The flight deck camera and plat camera captured the entire sequence of events. The fire was started by the Zuni missile.
The movie that the Navy made about it was a staple of the shipboard and aircraft firefighting classes I attended every two years or so.
McCains plane crashed had nothing to do with the fire on the flight deck
Just pointing out he was not the best aviator on the ship. His hot dog wet start of his A 4 caused the Zuni on the F-4 behind him to ignite.
Several years ago I read s good and very thorough article about the Forrestal fire nd McCain. Sorry I can’t find it now. The author did debunk the “ Wet start” rumor based in accident reporting. However what I remember is that McCains aircraft released its ordnance as McCain and other pilots struggled to get out of their jets.
The resulting explosion killed the pilot of the jet next to him who was out and attempting to flee, and killed ground crew who were trying to help the pilots and fight the flames. The accident report would eventually attribute this ordnance release to the heat and flames, However the authors gathered info suggested the ordnance was released due to pilot error in the panic to escape his jet.
Two things that made me go hmmmm were McCains failure in his memoirs and in all the years since to ever mention name or acknowledge in any way the men who died in and around the aircraft next to him , and McCains rather curious urgency to get himself OFF the ship while it was still burning and everyone was still being pressed into emergency oversight of firefighting and casualty accounting ...
McCain hitched a ride to Saigon with the first reporter who flew out to report the accident and stayed in Saigon for some time, describing it as “ much needed R and R” before eventually rejoining his crippled ship I don’t remember how much longer. The author could not determine whether McCain left the ship with authorization to do so, only that he was the first uninjured officer to do so.